Station-indicating device



Se t0 Q t p WQB. FEELEY ET AL I STATION INDICATING nmvrcs Filed Dec. 10. 1925 494 L50 INVENTORS WN a mN N 7. R w mm A v 7 B Patented Sept. 13, 1927.

UNITED STATE 5- PATENT OFFKIE.

W'IELIA'M a FE'EL'EY Arr-n WILLIAM DAN'MHR, or aunvmrmi, NEW YORK.

S'TATION-INDICA'ITING DEVICE.

Application filed December 10, 1925. SerialNo. 74,449,

The main object of this invention is to provide an improved type of station indicator designed principally for use on vehicles of public and private conveyances and is adapted to automatically operate upon closing of a circuit for the purpose of moving a charactered roller to a position in front of the opening where the characters thereon may berea d, said characters being adapted-to disclose the station at which the. vehicle is; then about to stop. 7

Another object is to. provide a station indicator' com-prising; apair'ot cylinders and a taut'ening device which cooperate with each other for delivering alength of materi-al' inscribed with letters indicating streets avenues; and stations from one'posi tion successively to the next position by paying out from one cylinder to another, and mechanical and electrical means for operating the cylinders and tautening the device;

The above and other objects will become apparent in the descriptionbelomin which characters of reference refer tolike-named pa'r tsi in the drawingi Referring briefly to the drawing, Figure l is an. end elevational view of: the device, showing the cylinder stop mechanism and circuit-breaker. V I

Figure-23s a top plan; view of the device withthe casing: removed therefrom.

Figure 3 is, transverse sectional view taken on line; 3*3 of Figure 2.

Figuret-is afsimilar view taken on line 4.4t of= Figure=2t Figure 5- is' a side elevation-at View of the device as mou nted in the casing. V

Figure (i is a wiring diagram of the de- Referring in detail to the drawing, the numerals 10 and 11 indicate cylinders. These cylinders are closed at both their ends and are alignedlon ahorizontal plane; They aresupported upon studs 12 which in turn arej-oru nalled in'framing plates Band 14 arr-angedron hoth sides of the cylinders: A

housing 15; rounded at its ends; is: secured to the outer face of theplate ll and'i-s used as an enclosure for a solenoid 16. The solenoid" is strapped or secured to the-side oh the housing and is provided with a plunger 1? which is normally extended by a spring118', the latter being coiled about the plunger within a U-shaped' yoke 19 which ismounted on one end of='tl1e=solenoid. One of the studs 12 supporting one end of the cylinder 11 projects thru the plate 14 in which it is journalled and enters the housing 15. To the end inth'e'housing, the cam disk 20 is secured fastened by pinning the hub or in any other. desirable man-- uer. -.This cam disk has detents 21 arranged on its periphery 90 degrees apart. One end 22 of the plunger 17' is adapted to ride upon the peripheiy'of the cam disk 20 and enter into any of the detents 21 as one of these de-tents is aligned with the axis of the plunger. Bars 23 extend outwardly from both walls of the housing toward the solenoid which is located approximately centrally in the housing. To these bars, resilicnt fingers 24 and 25 are attached. Said. fingers form part of the circuit breaking mechanism of the housing and their free ends are adapted to be superposed one in front of the other, the adjacent surfaces of these free endsbeingprovidcd with contact points 26 which are adapted to come into mutual contact when'the plunger 17 rides upon the eriphery of the cam disk 20.

A simi ar hou'sing 27 is mounted onthe outer face of the plate 13' and is provided with a dividing wall 2,8 forming a comp'artinent 29 in which gears are operable. The studs 12 supporting the lower ends of the cylinders 10 and ll pass thru the plate 13 and enter into the compartment 29. Each of these studs 12 entering the compartment 29'hasarelatively largespur gear 30 secured thereto: These spur gears are caused to retate' in opposite directions by being in mesh with a pair of mutually meshed pinions 31 and 32 The pinion-32 is mounted on a stud 33 whiclr projects outwardlyand' carries a worm gear 34 on its outer end; This worm gear is engaged" bya worm 36 secured to the shaft of an electrically energized motor 37.

The cylinder 11 has one end of a canvas curtain 38 attached thereto. The opposite edge of the curtain is attached to the cylinder 10. .Betwee'n-the cylinders,;a tautening deviceis provided- This tautening device consists of a pairof levers 39and 40 which are pivoted intermediate their length on pins 41', the pins being mounted on the ad jacentsides of the plates 13 and 1 1. These levers 39 and 40 are provided attheir ends with coil springs 42, apair of coil springs to each lever. The springs are respectively .tr'eme ends of the levers andarefadaptedto move an upper guide spindle 43 toward the cylinder 10. At the opposite ends of the lovers, openings are provided for a lower guide spindle 44. The curtain 38 is trained about the cylinder 11 and courses tangentially from the upper periphery of the cylinder 10 over the upper guide spindle 43, then passes angularly downward as illusirated at 45, and turns around the reverse side of the lower guide spindle 44, finally being trained upon the cylinder 10 by ex tending tangentially toward the lower half of the periphery thereof. The entire device, as illustrated in Figure 5, is enclosed in a casing 46 of suitable dimensions to receive the device and has an opening 47 at both its sides thru which the surface of the curtain 38 is exposed so that characters 48 indicating streets and avenues may be shown.

The device may be used with any electrical circuit such as the leads 49 and 50. Shunt leads 51 and 52 are connected to the solenoid windings and the lead 52 is opened and closed by a push button switch 53 so that the circuit thru the solenoid may be opened or closed by manipulation of the push button switch 53. An auxiliary circ-uit consisting of lead wires 54 and 55 is provided. These lead wires are connected to the motor 37 at one end and the lead wire 54 is provided with or has the fingers 24 and 25 in electrical circuit therewith in a position where the reciprocation of the plunger will make or break contact between these fingers. The lower ends of the lead wires 54 and 55 are provided with a reversible type of switch, which latter is connected to the main leads and 49 and permits reversing of the current which passes thru the motor.

The device functions in the following manner. When desiring to pay out the length of the curtain 38 suflicient to shift the area of the curtain within the openings 47 a sutficient distance to disclose the new set of characters, the push button 53 is depressed, the circuit will then be closed thru the main leads 50 and 49 and auxiliary leads 51 and 52 thru the solenoid. While this is occurring, the circuit thru the leads 54 and and motor 37 is open and does not operate as the circuit breaker fingers 25 and 24 are not in mutual contact, this 1 eing necessary to close the circuit thru the leads 54 and 55. By passing current thru the solenoid 16, the plunger 17 is moved so that its end 22 telescopes into the solenoid. As this end 22 telescopes, the plunger moves outwardly against the tension of the spring 18, closes contact between the fingers 24 and 25, causing the current to flow thru the leads 54 and 55, energizing the motor 37, which in turn rotates the cylinders 10 and 11 thru the medium of the gears 30, 31,

and 32, and worm 36. Such pressure on the push button 53 is of instantaneous duration, the circuit thru the leads 51 and 52 will immediately be broken and the spring 18 will again urge the solenoid plunger outwardly so that its end 22 will be caused to ride upon the periphery of the cam disk 20 and enter and stop rotation of the cam disk by entering the next detent 21 as it arrives opposite to the end 22 of the plunger, thus completing movement of the curtain 38 a suilicient distance to disclose another set of characters thru the opening 47. At the same time the contacts 26 will part causing the motor circuit to be broken, thereby stopping the motor. Dil'liculty would be encountered in preventing the curtain from becoming wrinkled thru this quick operation of the device if the same were not provided with the tautening device. tautening device is pivoted on the pins 41 which support levers 39 between which guide spindles 43 and 44 are mounted. The

guide spindles have the curtain 38 trained about them in the manner shown in Figure 3 and are adapted to pull in opposite directions away from their cylinder in each case so as to tauten the curtain as it is paid out or trained upon its particular cylinder.

We claim 1. In a station indicator, a pair of display cylinders, gears connecting said cylinders to rotate the same in opposite directions, means for driving said gears, electrically operated means for stopping rotation oi said cylinders, a charactered curtain connected to both cylinders passing tangentially from one cylinder at the top and being fed tangentially to the opposite cylinder at the bottom, and resilient means intermediate said cylinder for retaining said curtain in a taut condition.

2. In a station indicator, a pair of cylinders adapted to rotate simultaneously in opposite directions, gears connecting said cylinders, electrical means for driving said gears, cam actuated means for stopping r0- tation of the cylinders, a charactered curtain connected to both cylinders passing tangentially from one cylinder at the top and being fed tangentially to the opposite cylinder at the bottom, resilient means intermediate said cylinder for retaining the curtain in a taut condition, said means comprising a pair of levers, guide spindles connecting said levers, and a pair of springs at the end of said levers adapted to urge said levers in opposite directions.

3. In a station indicator, a pair of cylinders adapted to rotate simultaneously in opposite directions, gears connecting said cylinders, electrical means for driving said gears, indented means for stopping rotation of the cylinders, a charactered curtain connected to both cyllnders passing tangen- This 1 tially from one cylinder at the top and being fed tangentially to the opposite cylinder at the bottom, yieldable means for retaining the curtain taut said means comprising a pair of levers, centrally pivoted and mounted between the cylinders spindles secured to and connecting said levers, and a pair of springs oppositely disposed at the ends of said levers adapted to urge said levers and guide the spindles in opposite directions.

4. In a station indicator, a pair of cylinders, gears connecting said cylinders to rotate the same in opposite directions, means for driving said gears, spring operatedmeans for stopping rotation of the cylin ders, a charactered curtain connected to both cylinders passing tangentially from one cylinder at the top and being fed tangentially to the opposite cylinder at the bottom, yieldable means for retaining the curtain in a taut condition, said means comprising a pair of levers pivoted centrally and mounted intermediate said cylinders, spindles secured to and connecting said levers, a pair of springs oppositely disposed connected to said levers and adapted to urge the ends of said levers and guide the spindles in opposite directions, said cur- I tain passing over the upper guide spindle and being trained below the lower guide spindle.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

WILLIAM B. FEELEY. WILLIAM DANMAR. 

